LOS ANGELES 
ieegeeeeesases LL Litiittiittiitotitititoitotititi tot ttt titi ttt ttt ttt titi iii ii i 
eee 
Ire 
LL lebbebeletedetebetetatetateatelaeledaibebelleeldettetedlaeldeleseelelelleteleteletlelebedeedelteetededededeleletelaads 
— 
TROUBLE DEPARTMENT 
PESTS . .. The “Orchid Cactus” are compara- 
tively free of pests of any kind, but they do 
occasionally have scale or mealy bugs on them, 
the former being minute bodies under a scale- 
like covering the size of a pin head, the latter 
being woolly insects which are quite a bit larger 
and often move about. These are generally con- 
trolled by the use of any good oil-base spray, 
used according to directions on the label. This 
is fine for a large collection of plants or for a 
heavy infestation of the pests, however, the 
average fancier will find it much simpler to use 
common rubbing alcohol; to be applied with a 
soft brush or piece of absorbent cotton. The 
infected parts should be well saturated with 
alcohol. Do this in the cool of the day, never 
in the hot sunshine. Let the plant stand a few 
days, wash it off with a sharp spray of water 
from the garden hose and the dead scale, or 
mealy bugs, will fall off. This treatment should 
be repeated in about two weeks so as to take 
care of any young insects which might have es- 
caped the first time. 
ROOT ROT ... Whenever root rot occurs it is 
generally due to your treatment of your plant. 
Too hot a fertilizer will burn the roots off. Too 
wet a soil becomes over-acid and causes root 
rot. This may be due to the use of peat moss, 
too much leaf mold or compost, too much fertt- 
lizer in your soil mixture, or too compact a soil 
or too poor drainage, as well as by over-water- 
ing. All of these things tend to make an over- 
acid soil, and any one of them may be the final 
straw which “‘breaks the camel’s back.” Over- 
acidity also causes spots and blemishes to appear 
on the branches of your plants. The only heip 
for infected plants is new soil. The diseased 
parts must be cut away and in the case of actual 
root-rot, or burn, the stems will need to be cut 
off well above the spoiled portion, taking care 
that no trace of the infection still shows, par- 
ticularly in the woody center stem. These cut- 
tings must be dried and treated the same as any 
other cutting. If you have a tendency to over- 
water your plants, you will find that chunks of 
charcoal placed in the bottom of your containers 
in place of the usual gravel or broken pots, will 
be a great help to you. A little more sunshine 
will also help. 
BESTING® YOURSPLANTS . =-. Plants are 
very human in many ways. You cannot expect 
the best from plants which are forced to grow 
the year aroand, even if your aim is solely to 
grow huge specimens. This is true of all types 
of plant life. The “Orchid Cactus’ produces 
new growth even while blooming and they can 
be forced to grow throughout the entire year, 
however, when their work is well done, they 
deserve a rest and you will find that a rested 
plant will be much healthier and produce larger 
and better blooms. (Did you ever try working 
after a restless night? Didn’t do so good did 
you?) 
If your plants are well fertilized in early 
Spring and again in the early Fall, that will be 
enough if you are using a mulch of well-ro:ted 
fertilizer each time. If you use commercial 
fertilizer, you will apply small quantities a little 
more often. If you use liquid fertilizer, it should 
be used about half strength, twice a month, or 
full strength, according to directions on the 
bottle, probably once a month, during growing 
and blooming season. To rest your plants, you 
merely withhold fertilizer completely and begin 
to water sparingly. This is generally started in 
the late Fall, perhaps the middle of November, 
when the nights really begin to be cooler. The 
plants should be supplied with only enough 
water throughout the winter months to keep 
them from actually withering. This stops the 
un-seasonal growth and toughens up the branch- 
es so that the plant is not only less susceptible 
to disease, etc., but also to cold damage which 
is quite an item for those folk who must grow 
their plants in the colder climates where there 
is always the threat of frost damage. In very 
cold places, your plants may be wintered in the 
cellar, near the furnace, if they are kept rea'ly 
dry. Watering would cause pale, weak growth 
to develope. 
PROBLEMS . . . If you have some special prob- 
lem of your own which you cannot find a solu- 
tion for, we hope you will feel free to write us 
about it. We are very busy people and it might 
take us a little time but we are always glad to be 
of service, whenever possible. 
Vavavovatavovs¥, Vival al avevit avaNavotav ViVavavaVaVatatct cy Vv 
ORCHID CACTUS SEED— 
Grow your own hybrids 
1. ASSORTED seed, collected from our 
many hybrids—25c per packet. 
. SELECT seed, taken from our best varie- 
ties. The kind of seed we plant to pro- 
duce our own beautiful hybrids—sOc per 
packet. 
3° SELECT BASKET type seed, taken: from 
our best basket-type hybrids—50c per 
packet. 
NO 
